Dispensing closure



g- 1964 G. PHILLIPPS ETAL 3,144,180

DISPENSING CLOSURE Filed July 13. 1961 INVENTORS LEONARD G. PH/LL/Pl-"Ju" BY 8 //?A h- MILLER SPENCER 1.. sumac/gm w. A. saHA/cH ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,144,180 DHSIENSING CLOSURE Leonard G. Phillipps, Toledo, Ohio, and Ira H. Miller, Lamhertville, Mich, assignors to Owens-Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of Ohio Filed duty 13, 1951, Ser. No. 123,703 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-489) This invention relates generally to a dispensing closure and more particularly to a dispensing closure for powdered or granulated products, specifically cornestibles.

In the packaging of powdered or granulated food products, particularly spices, the dispensing closure is provided with a sliding cover. This cover may be moved from a closed position to an intermediate position thereby opening to the atmosphere the sifter apertures. It then may be moved to its extreme position which opens a somewhat larger aperture, thereby permitting some spooning or pouring of the contents of the package.

These conventional packages are relatively small with the result that the dispensing openings are very small. Since provision must be made for the sliding motion of the closure and two separate dispensing openings, it is practically impossible to spoon out the contents of the package with anything but a very small spoon. This is, of course, undesirable for many applications.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing closure which is capable of assuming any of three positions, the first of which seals the container; the second of which permits use of the closure as a shaker fitment; and the third providing a relatively wide opening facilitating spooning or stream pouring of the contents.

A further object of our invention is the provision of a dispensing closure of the above character formed of polypropylene or a like plastic material capable of withstanding repeated flexing.

Another object of our invention is the provision of a dispensing closure formed of a single piece of polypropylene and including an integral hinged cover element movable to any of several positions to permit use of the closure as a shaker fitment, stream pourer or to seal the container with which it is associated.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an isotactic polypropylene dispensing closure which includes an integral hinged cover element that is movable to several positions to permit use of the closure as a shaker, a stream pourer, a spooning opening and a sealing element for the container with which it is associated.

An additional object of this invention is the provision of a dispensing closure which includes two hinged cover elements each of which is capable of assuming any of three positions, the first of which seals the container; the second of which permits use of the closure as a shaker fitment or a stream pourer; and the third providing a relatively wide opening facilitating spooning of the contents.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawing in which by way of example is illustrated a preferred embodiment of our invention.

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a closure embodying our invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the plane of line 22 of FIGURE 1, with the hinged cover positioned to facilitate spooning of the contents, although the cover may be moved another 96, if desired.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but with the cover positioned to function as a shaker fitment.

FIGURE 4 is a transverse sectional view showing the hinged cover sealing the container.

3,144,180 Patented Aug. 11, 1964 ice FIGURE 5 is a view like FIGURE 2 but shows the cover as a separate element connected by a hinge pin to the closure proper.

Our dispensing closure preferably is molded in one piece from a thermoplastic material which will withstand repeated flexing, this being important in our invention because of its embodying an integral hinged cover. Any thermoplastic material which will withstand this repeated flexing without cracking may be utilized to mold this dispensing closure. Isotactic polypropylene is the preferred material because of its availability and relatively low cost. Nylon may also be used as it will also withstand the repeated flexing to which the integral hinged cover will be subjected in ordinary use. Obviously, as shown in FIG- URE 5, the cover, if preferred, can be connected to the closure proper by a hinge or pivot as will be brought out hereinafter.

If the latter embodiment is utilized, any suitable plastic material may be used. Such material need not be selected for its resistance to repeated flexing. Therefore, polyethylene or polystyrene can be used in this embodiment even though they can not be used in the preferred embodiment because of their inability to withstand flexing.

Referring now to the drawing, the dispensing closure of our invention is aflixed to a container llll having an internally grooved mouth-defining wall 11 at. its upper end.

The closure may well comprise a relatively flat body portion 15 provided at its periphery with a continuous depending external flange 15 between which and an internal beaded flange 17 is gripped the aforementioned mouth-defining wall 11. The head 18 on this internal flange 17 fits snugly into the groove 11 in said wall and firmly, yet releasably holds the closure unit and container assembled. The closure may be afilxed to the container 10 by other conventional means. For instance, the beaded flange 17 and the external flange 16 may be reversed with the groove li on the external wall of the container rather than on the internal wall.

In FIGURE 1 we have shown the closure unit as provided with two hinged covers 19 for two separate dispensing openings 20 in the flat body portion 15. The only material distinction between these two covers is that one has a relatively large single dispensing aperture 21 which functions as a stream pourer while the other is formed with a plurality of small apertures 2.2 which function in the manner of a conventional shaker fitment. Otherwise both elements are identical and accordingly the following description will be directed to one element only.

If desired the cover 19 with the single dispensing aperture 21 may be completely eliminated if only the shaker and spooning functions are needed. Also the covers 19 may be rotated degrees in order that they will open perpendicular to the long axis of the container 10. Various other positions and combinations of the covers 19 may be resorted to if desired.

The dispensing opening 20 has its peripheral wall 23 stepped (FIGURE 2) providing a stop 24 for engagement with the peripheral free edge of the hinged cover 19 to close the dispensing opening 20. This cover is molded as an integral part of the closure unit, being connected thereto by a section 25 of reduced thickness which functions as a hinge for said cover. The free edge of the cover opposite the reduced section 25 stops short of the adjacent Wall 23 providing a finger piece 26 for finger nail access in order to lift the cover. At each end of the cover is a generally triangular end wall 27, both walls extending at right angles from the cover and in parallel relationship. These walls are joined together also by an arcuate side wall 28 which has the cover hinge for its center. This side wall 28 is provided with dispensing apertures 21 and 22, as explained above. Also it will be observed that the end walls 27 are of somewhat less than 90 extent along the ends of the side wall 28. This may vary, as desired.

For the purpose of releasably holding the cover closed in'sealing position, or as in FIGURE 3, for shaker-type dispensing,'the side wall is provided with suitably positioned protuberances, or knobs 29, for engagement with a portion of the peripheral wall 23 of the dispensing opening. That portion of the peripheral wall 23 which is engaged by the knobs 29 is parallel to the reduced thickness section 25 of the cover or is parallel to the hinge 30.

The knobs or protuberances 29 are slightly elongated as is shown more clearly in FIGURE 1. Their long axis will be parallel to the axis of the reduced thickness section 25 or hinge 30. They are illustrated as being in the nature of saw teeth, however, any configuration which will insure that the cover 19 will be held in its closed or dispensing positions may be resorted to. Their configuration is such that they will readily hold the cover 19 closed during shipment and hold the cover 19 in dispensing position while the container is being vigorously shaken to dispense its contents. They must also be shaped so as to permit the cover 19 to be readily shifted from its closed position to its dispensing position and to its spooning or pouring position.

Thus when the container is closed, the cover 19 is positioned as shown in FIGURE 4 with the peripheral wall 23 gripped between the finger piece extension 26 on the cover 19 and a knob 29. When it is desired to dispense the contents in shaker fashion, the cover 19 is positioned as shown in FIGURE 3 with two knobs 29 engaging opposite sides of the peripheral wall 23 and serving to hold the cover as indicated. Full stream pouring of the contents is obtained by a similar opening of the cover 19 containing aperture 21 to the position as shown in FIGURE 3. Spooning of the contents is obtained by a further opening of the cover 19 to or well beyond the position shown in FIGURE 2. The cover may be moved through an angle of about 180 from its closed position so that it lies upon the flat body near the periphery thereof. This is possible because the hinge is formed by providing a section 25 of reduced thickness which thereby provides a groove 31 on the underside of body 15.

In FIGURE 5, there is illustrated another embodiment of this invention wherein cover 19 is formed separately from the flat body 15 and hinged to the latter by a pivot pin 30. In this embodiment, the dispensing closure may be formed of polyethylene, polystyrene, polyproylene or other suitable plastic material because the pivot pin 30 is utilized in place of the reduced thickness section 25 and the plastic material need not be capable of withstanding repeated flexing. In all other aspects this embodiment is the same as described with reference to FIGURES 1 to 4.

It will be apparent that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.

We claim:

A dispensing closure comprising a body portion having upper and lower relatively flat surfaces and having two dispensing openings therethrough, a cover for each of said openings, said body portion and said covers being molded as a unitary structure from a plastic material capable of withstanding repeated flexing; a depending generally triangular end wall at each end of each of said covers, a sidewall arcuate in cross section connecting each pair of end walls, one of said sidewalls having a single dispensing aperture therein and the other of said sidewalls having a plurality of dispensing apertures therein; said sidewalls being provided with protuberances engageable with said openings to hold each of the covers completely or only partially closed; said covers being hinged to a wall of each of said openings and each hinge being formed by a groove provided in the lower side of the body along the hinge zone to reduce the body thickness in that zone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,619,315 Ricketts Mar. 1, 1927 1,775,596 Link Sept. 9, 1930 2,327,420 Grosse Aug. 24, 1943 2,618,413 Brooks Nov. 18, 1952 2,684,792 Kraus July 27, 1954 2,828,894 Zimmerman Apr. 1, 1958 2,971,681 Galbierz A Feb. 14, 1961 3,018,931 Westgate Ian. 30, 1962 3,036,746 Hagen May 29, 1962 3,048,309 Albiani Aug. 7, 1962 

